Trailing Parasol

Who's that wearing the Chinese Hat at the fence? Her face red in the hot sun? Looking chubby all day long? Are the Dragon girls in town? Like light umbrellas or a hundred beach umbrellas shielding us from the hot sun, these tiny inflorescences of the Cup and Saucer plants ( Holmekioldia sanguinea) are having a fantastic time trailing along my south fence . It was not easy for me to get them established since five months ago. But once set, they spread along the low fence fast albeit with a little help from a caring hand. Now my idea of having a fence that is glowing in orangy red inflorescence's daily is achieved. On closer look the Holmekiolda sanguinea plant has crimson trumpet-like flowers ( here looking like cups) that protrude from a base of orange-red calyxes -that resemble saucers. This Cup and Saucer plant is best grown in the open sun and needs support like the metal fence to encourage its trailing or shall I say foraging habit. I'm inclined to believe after seeing this tiny success that the Holmekioldia is an excellent tropical trailer for small urban gardens.

Colourful Hearts

View of side garden with coleus planted as cover in border planting.

I am pleasantly surprised to see the coleus plants parading their best colours today. It must have been the manure that I generously applied before I left for Bintulu two weeks ago that did the magic. Coleus ( Solenostemon scutellariodes ) are known here as 'Ati- Ati ' derived from the Malay root word 'Hati- Hati' meaning hearts. I plant them for their gorgeously bright multi- coloured foliage. In our tropical evergreen environment where the green wash is an everyday occurrence, splashes of colours can be obtained by planting the coleus plants. Being herbaceous perennials ( i.e. they don't have woody stems above the ground) they are rather short-lived,maybe surviving for 1-3 years at the most. However they grow very fast and thus useful for 'instant' garden results. It is important to prune them head back after every flowering season for renewed growth and fresh new foliage thus creating showy masses of colours in the garden daily.

Collection of Coleus Plant Cultivars at my Kuching Garden presently:

Photographing Kuching

I'm back in Kuching. As usual I'd pay a visit to my favourite haunt- the Kuching waterfront area. Two things stood out. First the obvious. The lettering 'ASTANA' is now replaced in bold letters. Secondly, despite having many walks around the Kuching waterfront before, I failed to notice a relief sculpture that was somewhat hidden in a corner at the crowded waterfront area. The title of the relief is 'Pak Tambang' and is dedicated to the boatmen (in Malay 'Pak Tambang') who ferried thousands of people from both sides of the Sarawak river around the Kuching waterfront daily. How often do we take things for granted in life? These unsung heroes have an awesome record of ferrying people safely for generations. Now the going rate per crossing is 40 sen which is peanuts for the thrill , safety and comfort of crossing the river.

Relief sculpture in bronze and mosaic ( approx. 2 m x 3m ) entitled 'Pak Tambang' depicting the unsung heroes of the Sarawak River.

In the far background the wordings signifying the 'ASTANA' stood out in flashy and bold stainless steel lettering. The Astana is currently home to the Governor of Sarawak. In history it was always home to the three white Rajahs of Sarawak who ruled Sarawak from 1841- 1946.
Note: All pictures taken before in this blog and now is still using my camera phone N93i.

We Breathe, We Fight

Opposition billboard with their battle cry ( in the Iban language) : Agi Idup, Agi Ngelaban ( We Breathe, We Fight)

Today ( 7 April) we took the highway to Kuching. We started the journey at 9.00 am from Bintulu. As usual our two cats Daisy and Inul joined us on their separate mission to create a new Malaysian record for the most travelled cats in Malaysia. However along the way we were caught by the election fever at Lubok Antu, which is about three quarters of our journey to Kuching. An half an hour diversion from the Pan- Borneo Highway brought us to the little town of Lubok Antu. Today it was bustling with cars, buses, 4x4 wheels vehicles, trucks on the roads and longboats and speed boats on the river. The Lubok Antu town was in a fiesta mood with make- shift stalls selling goodies, souvenirs, foods and drinks to thousands of people who congregate to cast their votes and later to witness the counting of ballot papers. We arrived at the town around 4.30 pm just half an hour before the casting of votes was over. I guess by the time we arrived Kuching in the evening the the results of voting would have been aired.

Opposition election banner in the river screams - 'Eliminate Our Land Robbers' ( In Malay - Hapuskan Perompak Tanah Kami)

What amazes me on this detour was the prevalence of poster war around the town. Two political parties are vying for the vacant state seat as a result of the death of its former representative. The Barisan Nasional (BN) - a coalition of ethnic or race-based political parties is challenged by the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) - a multi-racial party that accept common membership from the state's diverse races.

Walking around the town I noticed there seemed to be a even fight judging from the posters and people who wear T-shirts and uniforms displaying their political identities. The majority of the electorate here consisted of the Ibans (90%) and the balance a sprinkle of Malay, Chinese and other minority registered voters.

The main political issue raised by the opposition party is the up scaling of land grab by the government on the traditional lands of the Ibans which they claimed rights since generations ago but are frustratingly unrecognised by the government of the day. Increasingly huge tracts of Iban lands which they cleared manually for shifting agriculture are being taken from their hands for conversion into oil palm estates reserved for corporate bodies or outside companies. Their dire struggle against the State land laws becomes the main thrust of opposition agenda in Sarawak currently. The above inset of the rattan baskets sold abundantly along the town's 5-foot way epitomises the principal form of livelihood of the Ibans here. The rattan carrying baskets are used to carry ripe paddy stalks, jungle produce items and are borne by the men as well as women folks here. It is indeed a practical aid for rural farmers.

Police presence was everywhere and gave much confidence for the people to come to town. Inset shows a video filmer in action.
Location: Just outside the vote casting centre.

Addendum: We arrived Kuching at around 8.30 pm and by 9.00 pm the by-election results has been announced over the national TV ( RTM1). In the by-election, Malcolm Mussem of Barisan Nasional (BN) ( an Iban engineer) won with a majority of 1,854 votes after polling 3,907 votes, against the opposition candidate Jawah Gerang 's poll of 2,053 votes. Best man win. And democracy is alive and kicking.

I'm Blogged

I was lost for words when I read Deb Peterson's comments on my post "Art Through the Years' published in this blog earlier . Deb is a Guide to Continuing Education at About.com, part of the New York Times company. In her blog she highlighted on my idea of showcasing my various interests in my coming 2nd solo art exhibition. Her blog is here. I felt deeply honoured,touched and overwhelmed with joy upon reading her write up. I'm encouraged more than ever to make a real success of the exhibition especially now that it has attracted interest from across the Pacific.

Life-long learning is a growing passion for me. I remember a few years ago when I was doing a garden for a Japanese lady in Bintulu. She casually mentioned in very simple words how important is learning to an individual. She said knowledge is kept in our head. It will always be with you wherever you go. How can you not benefit from learning? On a more philosophical level, I believe that we humans are honey gatherers of the mind. We fly back and forth to treasure up the beehives of our knowledge - where our true heart lies. In the best of human spirit whatever knowledge we have should be used to prosper mankind. Through the Internet and Blogging we are empowered to share knowledge on a scale unimagined of a generation earlier - borderless, online and with the minutest of cost. So, Deb the pleasure is mine.

We Were Once Kids

This afternoon I saw these joyful kids playing at an open space by the village of Kampung Jepak where my worker lives. I took a moment to take a picture of them. I was thinking of the nostalgic days when I was a kid like them spending endless hours playing with my brothers or sisters and friends. What did I do after school hours when I was like them say at the age of 4- 12 years old?

Under the category of 'Helping Out Parents' I did the following:

1) Collect firewood from a nearby sawmill that was located on the opposite side of the river. It required me and my brothers to paddle a small boat . A frightening experience when the boat was loaded and had to navigate the waves from passing ships . Never did our boat collide or sank. Thanks to the Almighty.

2) Sell cakes & ice cream which entailed me to walk for miles around the village or town . Over the years became knowledgeable about Who's Who in the village or town, especially those with spending power.

3) Water plants,sweep garden floor and help burn garden debris - almost on daily basis.That could be how I was indoctrinated into gardening. Green fingers are created young. Did Confucius say that??

4) Shopping for emergency supplies- cigarettes, sugar, milk, flour, fruits, etc

5) AOB - carry out miscellaneous errands like collect clothes from working bachelors who contracted out their laundry washing to my mother. Then send back the clothes cleaned and ironed .

'Just Having Fun ' Category list of activities:

1) Swimming in the river

2) Fishing by the stream or river

3) Bicycling around town or village

4) Play football or badminton and other traditional games e.g. kite flying and marbles,

5) Play hide and seek

6) Shoot birds and mudskippers using catapult

7) Play see-saw and swing at the only public park in town

Reflecting on my childhood days I think I had my share of the fun days as well as the 'hard' days.

More of the former than the latter. I guess -Kids just wanna have fun.

Art Through the Years

My most treasured Art certificate , stenciled on blue manila card. Simple yet priceless. Year: 1966
I have been addicted to Art since my primary school days. When I was 15 years old I won a second place in our school-wide art competition. For that I was awarded a certificate which I still keep because it meant so much to me. Walking up the stage to receive the certificate was a very memorable moment in my life.


Painting plein air at the Brighton Beach, Miri,1968. ( Inset) I'm the one on right of the picture.Note: One of my senoirs at school told me later in life that I was one of those kids who joined the school small, and left the school - small. He admitted I was indeed his 'compact' friend!.I knew now that I was always a late developer. And for that reason I take it to be my duty to learn life-long.

In 1967 I continued my upper secondary schooling at Tanjong Lobang School , Miri. For four intensive years I opted for Art as one of my favourite subjects, among others like Geography, History and General Science. In Miri I was under the masterly guidance of Mr. Voong, my Art teacher who migrated to Australia after I finished my studies at the school. He was instrumental in providing the proper basic Art education in my early formative years. Thanks to him I've never stopped learning Art. In 1970 I sat for the Higher School Certificate and obtained a Principal Pass A in Art. Later in my university days ( 1971-1973) I took History as my major, but never forget to add Art-related subjects as option like - Aesthetics, Buddhist Sculpture in South East Asia, Drama in South East Asia, Puppet Theatre and Children's Theatre. Through these formal studies I learnt many philosophies, methods, techniques, concepts and appreciation of Art in a very wide context.


Friends and Artists pose at my 1 st Solo Exhibition, 14/10/1981, Kuching.

In 1981, I got a new job as an administrator in housing development with a major regional development agency having headquarters at Kuching. Being the Art capital of Sarawak, I took this opportunity to organise my 1st Solo Art Exhibition there. Held at the Sarawak Museum it was the first solo I ever did and grateful that I made it.

Me painting in 1992 at my studio, Bintulu.

It has been a long, very long time that I have not hold any solo exhibition. I have made a commitment to undertake it this year. Like the first solo, it was held to celebrate my 30th birthday and this year's will be to celebrate my 58th . I have less than 27 weeks to prepare for the big day. Anyway, like what is fashionable now, I have opened a web blog to record my thinking, preparation etc for the coming exhibition.To follow, click here. However this new exhibition will be very different because it will integrate all my diverse interests ( I picked along the way) in the show as follows: Photography, Landscaping, Gardening, Writing, Cats, Floral Art, Singing and finally Blogging. The exhibition will showcase my Life Story.

About Bintulu Port

Yesterday I took a 25 km drive north of Bintulu town to the bustling industrial heartland of Kidurong, a satellite town of Bintulu. At the very end of the Kidurong highway was this unique building. It's not that the Titanic has landed on Bintulu's shores. Rather it an ultra-modern building belonging to the Bintulu Port Authority, a Federal agency under the Minister of Transport that was set up about 30 years ago to develop the port infrastructures at Kidurong for the export of liquified natural gas. Thus it took a slow momentum to fully develop Kidurong into one of the most successful petro-chemical zone in Malaysia it is today. Within Sarawak soil there's nothing to beat it. Bintulu Port has been a major player in the gradual build-up of the immediate industrial heartland and also the outlying far reaches of Bintulu's rural hinterland.

Bintulu is naturally endowed with vast exploitable forests, minerals, deep sea, beaches and rivers. From these resources a very robust, diversified and profitable economic superstructure has been developed over the last 30 years that transformed it from a sleepy hollow to an industrial showpiece presently. Being a Bintuluian, I am witness to its evolution and at different times a participant to its progress, physical or otherwise. To me 30 years is just like yesterday when there was not even a road link from Bintulu town to Kidurong. But many more things can happen here because Bintulu seems never to sleep from the long slumber it was subjected to before the opening up of Kidurong.

Kidurong Heavy Industrial zone, showing LNG complex -biggest in the world in a single location.

Outside the gazetted Bintulu Port area is a rim of heavy industrial undertakings. From the foreground to the back of the picture is the largest installation of liquified natural gas(LNG) in one locality in the world which is constituted of three huge LNG plants and 6 storage tanks,maze of pipelines and process buildings and tall flares that can be seen from as far as 30 kilometers at night. The inset below shows 6 huge tanks that store the LNG temporarily before they are piped to waiting LNG ships that berth at the Bintulu Port's three LNG jetties. Bintulu Port grew rich due to income from the LNG export terminals where it provides berthing, stevedoring and towage facilities to the many LNG ships. Don't be surprised that the jetty terminals can load two LNG ships per day with each loading taking an average of 12 hours. This being the current trend. Since is operation, the LNG cargoes form close to 60% of the total tonnage handled yearly.

But Bintulu Port is more than LNG export terminals. With the further utilisation of oil and gas resources Bintulu became the centre of crude oil storage and exporting point, the off shore gas that has been processed by Sarawak SHELL are piped to other industrial users. Principally among them are the Asean Bintulu Fertiliser Plant ( that use it to manufacture urea, granular fertiliser etc.,) Sarawak SHELL MDS( Middle Distillate Synthesis) Plant - that process the gas synthetically to manufature downstream products like paraffin wax, diesel fuel, kerosene, aviation fuel etc., using gas-to-liquid(GTL) technology, Petronas Gas Berhad ( that process and bottle the gas for domestic and industrial consumption as burning fuel) and many other smaller refining facilites that uses the natural gas for heating ( e.g. oil palm boilers for the production of cooking oil) and Sarawak Electricity Corporation ( that uses the gas for generating electricity by gas turbines) .

The three LNG jetties that are owned by the Bintulu Port, providing berthing and towage facilities to LNG ships before leaving the port to Taiwan, Tokyo and Korea.

To me there's no stopping the role that Bintulu Port will play in the future growth and development of Bintulu. Besides the petro-chemical industries Bintulu Port also handle bulk cargo and containerisation. The list of bulk cargoes it handles are : crude oil, crude palm oil, plywood, timber mouldings, sawn timber, veneer, medium density fibreboards, raw silica sand for export and a whole list of consumer goods both for export and import. The internationalisation of trade it promotes has currently made Bintulu into a well-known destination for cruise ships that bring visitors from far away destinations like Singapore, Hong Kong and many more other places in future.

The future of Bintulu Port lies very much in the forward thinking of its major shareholders as well as its other stake holders to stimulate and step up the further utilisation and operational infrastrucures it can offer.

Jungle Green

I miss the coolness of forest cover whenever I'm in Kuching. Here at my eco-farm in Bintulu, I would take the first opportunity to walk under its dense canopy to observe in greater details its plant life or wildlife which I missed or fail to observe before. Since the forest cover is literally a teeming arena of life, an hour spent is like marvelling at the wonders of Mother Nature waiting to be discovered . The above picture is taken at a vegetation island about 100 meters from my chalet.

A solitary clump of 'Palas' or Licuala spinosa, over topping a meter high above me.

The Licuala Palm ( Licuala spinosa) grows naturally at many undisturbed vegetation islands in my farm. The locals here generally refer to the liacuala palm as 'Palas' and its leaves are thatched for mats or roofing. Often the leaves are used to wrap food. I observe that the licualas are solitary palms and are found as scattered individuals among the forest undergrowth. They grow robust under dense cover and filtered light. Here the ideal conditions of growth are almost guaranteed by high humidity, thick humus and rotten vegetative matter teeming with micro-organisms. Because of these specifics, I find that planting the licualas in pots a very tough if not an almost impossible mission. However I have increasingly found its leaves to be very useful in floral arrangement.

Back from the short jungle walk this morning I brought home a stalk of the licuala palm leaf.

The deep green licuala leaves looked very fresh and alive. To accentuate the feeling of movement to the composition, I cut the leaf blades in staggered formation. To provide fragrance to the composition I selected the frangipani or plumeria flowers ( Plumeria obtusa) . Two flowering stalks will keep my study room scented for at least three days or more when other closed buds take their time to open up to the world. While green colour is for growth, white and scented is for spirituality.

Palms Up!

Traveller's Palm ( Ravenala Madagascariensis )

This is my first Sunday since been back from Kuching. I thought how nice it would be if I walked through the farm in the early morning light and hear the birds sing. Next on my agenda was to check on the status of my oil palm trees . But along the way there were other palms that attracted my attention. More of that soon. Finally being a Sunday I'll venture out to town and later to the beach. What's up Bintulu?

I've planted many Traveller's Palm at my farm. They provide character and a welcoming gesture. No wonder they call it the Traveller's Palm. The broad leaves are like the palms of our hands waving as if calling the traveller to drop by at our tavern, hut or house. Strictly speaking it is not a palm but a member of the banana family. However, it is palm-like in habit i.e. having a single trunk and a crown of leaves that is one-sided and looking like a fan. So far none of them have produced any flowers here. I was told it would be a rare occurrence. Well, this travellin' man can wait.

Next I stumbled upon the slender looking Golden Cane Palm ( Chrysalidocarpus lutescens). At the far left of the picture in brilliant scarlet colour is the Sealing Wax Palm ( Cyrtostachys renda). Both are my favourite ornamental palms and I consider them excellent for house gardens.


This month the Ubah Laut ( Eugenia polyantha) trees are flowering through out Bintulu. At my farm there are hundreds of them planted along the farm roads. When I first planted the oil palm trees ( Elaeis guineensis) in the ground about two and a half years ago, the Ubah Laut trees were also planted at the same time to add diversity to the landscape. The picture on the right shows how beautiful the eugenia trees are when they flower. The whole crown is enveloped with creamy white and puffy flowers as if its snowing. Well, to share the limelight is the handsome oil palm tree. Now even though I say handsome don't attempt to plant it in your house garden because it can grow to a large tree. Best to plant them in big open spaces or parks or farm if you like farming.

The oil palm trees are planted all over my farm. That's where my pension is. The trees have an economic life span of about 25 years.

What's interesting about the oil palm tree is that the male and female inflorescence's are borne on the same tree. The picture inset on the right shows the female flowers. The female flowers grow on a branch around a single stalk. After pollination, the fruits grow into a compact bunch.

The finger-like male inflorescence's with pollen are frequented by weevils as pollinating agents.

The male flowers form a cluster of furry single spikes resembling a hand with out-stretched fingers. Pollen appear as powdery stuff on the spikes.

Red is the colour of money . These ripe fruits can be harvested. Fresh fruit bunches are showing up at every nook and corner over at the farm here. I guess by this time next year all the trees will be producing average size fruits. A mature oil palm will produce 8-12 bunches at any time though some trees here have been able to produce 15 bunches. ( Secret: Depending on your clone). In a month you can harvest a tree at every two weeks interval and there again from one tree you are likely to pluck only 3 bunches. Each bunch can weigh 10 - 30 kg over their economic life and peak periods. Bad news: In today's economic recessionary periods the price of FFB ( Fresh Fruit Bunches ) are just below RM 400 a ton for Grade A fruits i.e. those weighing 25 kg per bunch and smaller bunches will fetch lower prices. Say for the lowest Grade C at the point of writing is about RM 250 /ton which is just break even point. While about a year ago when the prices were good, the average FFB prices were RM 800 per ton. Such is the vast difference and brings home the point how risky is the oil palm farming business. * Sigh*.

Well, forget about bad times. Think of good times at the beach. The coconut palms are so typical of tropical paradise and romantic holidays. At the Tanjung Batu beach I saw children and families, friends and colleagues, strangers and visitors having good time picnicking, jogging, swimming, playing beach football, kite flying, grilling fish and chicken wings at the BBQ sets (provided by the park authority). And not to miss the fun I wound up the day sipping coconut water direct from the coconut fruit and yes at the beach. Had a nice weekend.